


the choices we make

by masqurade



Series: Of Everything We Are & Of Everything We Are Becoming [3]
Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms, Bravely Second
Genre: F/M, all suffer lets be real i love making him suffer, basically ringabel before the yoko sidequest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 16:22:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6862867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masqurade/pseuds/masqurade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sketches in his notebook doesn’t hold a glimmer of the beauty that is Edea Lee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the choices we make

**Author's Note:**

> Post **Bravely Default** spoilers. Also **Bravely Second** spoilers if you have not done the **Yoko (Yokai) Sidequest** AND have not finished the game.
> 
> This game and this sidequest messed me up so much.

 The sketches in his notebook doesn’t hold a glimmer of the beauty that is Edea Lee. She’s vibrant, growing into her independence as a rose blooms in a garden – soft, flourishing,  _magical._  But she’s not the same as she was two years ago and, yet, in a way, she is.

 She’s the only one that can, and will, ruin him.

  _I love you. More than life. More than anything._

 Ringabel opens his eyes, pushing open the doors to the abandoned mansion. The air is thick with purple smog wafting across the floor. It’s stuffy underneath his Alternis disguise, so he rips off his mask and tosses it on the ground. It rolls to a stop against a wall, forgotten. Ringabel’s eyes observe his surroundings before they come to a stop at a painting in the middle of the room.

_“So you have come.”_

 A chill runs up his spine. Unsheathing his sword, Ringabel turns around to face black nothingness. The room becomes disoriented and suddenly, he can’t see five feet in front of him. He’s weightless, the ground disappearing from beneath him.

 The voice echoes around him, laughing. _“You, who is not part of this world. What do you want with me?”_

 “Show yourself, Yoko!” Ringabel yells. He slowly turns, eyes darting around in the darkness. “You cannot be left to wreak havoc in this world any longer.”

  _“Before I leave myself at your… mercy, I have a request.”_

 There is no way to pinpoint where the yokai is speaking from. Feeling himself growing irritated, Ringabel sighs, “You are in no position to be asking things of me, but very well. What is it?”

 In a bright flash of light, a white beast appears before him. Stunned, Ringabel takes a few steps back before regaining his composure. The “Yoko” he has been chasing up until now was in the form of a young girl. This is the yokai’s true form – her hair in the form of foxes’ tails and white, flowing form, as almost as if she’s a ghost instead of a demon.

 Yoko smiles, baring her sharp teeth for him to see. “You were the one that stopped me before. Edea’s _guardian_ , yes?”

 Ringabel smiles. “I’ve been meaning to thank you for the gigantic gash on my arm.”

 Her red eyes widen a fraction before she throws back her head, cackling. She circles him, eyeing him. Ringabel follows, not allowing his back to be turned towards her.

 “What is your request?”

 Yoko pauses and tilts her head. “Something you refused of me.”

 Suspicion rising, Ringabel says, “And that is?”

_“I want to know your secrets… I want to know your heart.”_

 Then the voice is suddenly beside him, whispering in his ear. “And, most of all, I want to know who Edea Lee is to _you_.”

 Ringabel tries to respond – “She’s nothing. _Nothing._ ” – but his voice doesn’t come out. Breaths coming out in ragged gasps, he places a hand over his throat, trying to somehow will himself to breathe. Laughter dances around him, mocking.

 Yoko’s voice is now inside his head, causing a piercing headache to form.

  _‘Your secrets… Show them to me.’_

 Then the world is bright with light

✯ ✯ ✯

 Ringabel opens his eyes to the nonchalant scent of lavender and honey.

 He can still feel his head pounding, but now it’s just a dull ache. Sitting up, his hand travels the length of fine silk covers and a soft mattress. Ringabel blinks, recognizing where he is instantly.

 “This isn’t real,” he suddenly says, as if to remind his heart.

 “What isn’t real?”

 Her voice is as soft as he remembers it to be. The words are out of his mouth without even thinking. “Good morning, Edea.”

 Turning his head, his eyes pause on the girl laying naked beside him. Her blonde hair is wild, long curls imbedding themselves into the sheets. She smiles up at him, cheeks coloring at the sight of him.

 “Morning, Alternis.”

  _Alternis._

 It’s been a long time since someone has called him that. He knows by her posture, the way she speaks, how she _smells_ – this is not the Edea who he loves.

 No, _this_ Edea is the one that he _loved_.

  _This isn’t real._

 Edea’s eyebrows raise questioningly at him. “What wrong? You’ve gone pale.”

 “I—” He clears his throat, opting for a lower tone. “I’m fine.”

 “You don’t look fine,” she accuses him. Reaching out, Edea places a hand on his leg, trying to soothe him. Immediately, he flinches away from her touch, causing her blue eyes to grow wide with shock. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

  _I might as well have_ , Ringabel almost says. “No, I’m fine. I promise.”

“Okay then.”

 She drops the subject, and it rubs Ringabel the wrong way. He has gotten so used to having the other Edea continuously badger him with questions that it’s odd. It’s especially weird when she’s not smelling of sweet frosting and strawberries, and not seeing her talking loudly in her sleep. It’s all wrong.

 It frightens him how much he’s fallen since this moment.

 “What’s all wrong?” Edea asks. It takes Ringabel a second to know he’s spoken out loud. “What’s going on?”

 “Nothing.”

 “Well, that’s definitely not true.”

 “It is.”

 “Is it because I’m an illusion?”

 His head whips back to look down at her. Edea is smiling, nuzzling into one of the pillows adorning the bed. She lets out a content sigh before holding out her hand. Ringabel reluctantly takes part in the gesture, placing his hand in hers.

 “This is a memory,” Edea says. It’s more a statement than an explanation, but Ringabel nods along as she continuous. “But you aren’t acting as you should.”

 “And how should I be acting?” he ventures.

 “Don’t you remember?”

 “Yes, I remember,” Ringabel returns her smile, eyes burning. “We spent the whole day in bed, tangled in one another – two lovers in heat.”

 “Poetic,” she comments, giggling. “You’ve changed.”

 “You’re dead,” he replies.

 “And, yet, here we are.”

 Ringabel says nothing. He falls back onto the bed, letting his arm cover his eyes. Edea doesn’t shift beside him (he will feel her if she does), and they lay by each other in silence for the duration of the next few minutes that pass by.

 Finally, he whispers, “I’m sorry.”

 Ringabel turns his head, letting his arm fall away. He looks at Edea who is simply smiling at him, waiting for him to continue.

 “I’m sorry you’re dead,” he says. “I’m sorry I _let_ you die. And everyone else. _I’m sorry_.”

 Edea reaches out, pressing her hand against his cheek. Ringabel lets her this time, and her places his own hand on top of hers. He doesn’t realize it until she begins to wipe at his face with her thumb, but he starts to cry. A sob breaks out from deep within his chest.

 “Let us go,” Edea says. “Let _me_ go. Be happy. Be with the person that has stolen your whole heart away, despite all the walls you have created around it in these last two years you’ve been apart. She’s waiting. She’s _yours_. And it’s so real and pure. Don’t be afraid.”

 “But I am,” he says. “I’m so afraid. I don’t want to lose someone I love ever again. I don’t want to hurt someone I love ever again.”

 “Don’t be afraid,” Edea repeats, and she presses a kiss against his forehead, laughing. “She’s everything – everything _I_ couldn’t and can never be. Don’t let your feelings or your rules let what’s most important slip through your grasp.”

 “You love her,” she continues. “Not because she’s a version of me, nor because she looks like me. You love her because she’s _her_. She’s Edea Lee. _The_ Edea Lee. Your only. You realized this already, yes?”

 Taking in a shaky breath, Ringabel nods, feeling the last of his tears being wiped away. He stares at her, taking her all in. He moves to press his forehead against her, letting her scent envelop him one last time.

 “I loved you,” he says.

 Her figure bursts into the flurry of flower petals, falling away along with the illusion of the bedroom they used to share. The petals swirl and disappear, leaving him standing in the middle of lake. Around him, the sky is a ray of pink and purple hues. It reminds him of the dimensions of the Balls. The water only comes up to his ankles, and it ripples black every time he moves. Ringabel takes a moment to stare down at his attire, shocked to find that it’s his former casual wear – the one he first wore as “Ringabel”.

 His eyes drift upward, locking onto the back of a woman. She’s standing on the other end of the vast lake, blonde hair flowing in the whispering wind. Ringabel looks at her blue clothing with a sword swaying against her hip and a gun holster strapped around her calf. The gun is a nice addition to her already long list of skills she has mastered. He just hopes that she doesn’t use it on him the next time they meet.

 He smiles.

  _‘Who is she?’_ a voice echoes in his mind.

“Edea,” Ringabel says without a second thought. “Edea Lee.”

 She turns at the sound of her name, eyes wide.

 And, for the first time, he voices to her how he feels.

 “I love you.”

✯ ✯ ✯

 Ringabel’s eyes fly open and he holds his hands against his head, wailing. It feels like his brain is about ready to burst out of his skull. He’s been drunk before, but this is much, _much_ worse than any hangover.

 “You pesk,” he hisses at the yokai hovering above him.

 Yoko observes him curled up on the floor for a bit before cocking her head. Ringabel moves to stand, only to have to hold a nearby wall to steady himself. His legs feel like jelly, and, hell, there is no way he can fight her in this condition. He can barely form a single word in his brain.

 “You are probably the most interesting human I have ever had the pleasure of seeking information from,” she says, blinking. Before Ringabel can curse her very existence, she grins, cutting him off. “Although, it’s sort of frustrating. I’ve never been the one to simply stand by and watch things unfold before. You should feel special.”

 “That illusion wasn’t yours?” Ringabel asks, fingers grabbing at his hair in an attempt to try and clear his head.

 “Oh, dear, I don’t _do_ illusions. I just talk and feed off your emotions,” Yoko replies, raising an eyebrow.

 Ringabel knows this. He knows it’s true. It doesn’t leave him with any less questions than before.

 Yoko opens her mouth, as if to say more before her head snaps in the direction of the stairs. His eyes follow hers, and Ringabel blinks. All he remembers is being at the entrance on the first floor. How he was able to get up on the top floor of the mansion will just have to be another question left unanswered during this bizarre experience.

 “My, those friends of yours sure take their time,” Yoko murmurs, eyes snapping back towards him. Her tone is playful which on proves to make Ringabel fume with rage. “I assume we shall see you soon, _Alternis_?”

 “It’s Ringabel,” he spits.

 “ _Ringabel_ ,” she corrects, eyeing him once more while waving a hand through the hair.

 Yoko is gone in an instance, even before Ringabel has a chance to blink.

 He immediately slumps back onto the floor, knees screaming in pain as they hit the ground. Not only is his head still reeling from the shock of whatever magic was used, but his injured arm feels like its on fire underneath his armor.

 Glimpsing at Edea’s blue ribbon tied around his wrist, Ringabel forces himself back off the ground and back towards the stairs.


End file.
